Chocolate covered cherries.   Green hates them, but I must admit that when the holidays roll around I look forward to seeing these little treats on the shelves.  They remind me of kind neighbors that brought them as treats when I was a little girl.  They remind me that the best part is often found within a person, and that what you see is never what you get.  Recently my siblings and I got together for a visit.  My older sister Michelle told us a story that I had never heard. 
My dad has six brothers and one sister.  They grew up on a farm in Idaho and never had much money. One Christmas after everyone had opened gifts my uncle Randy asked if there was anything for him.  My grandmother quickly realized that she had forgotten to buy him a gift, but instead of saying, "We'll go and get you something later", she went into her room and found a box of opened chocolate covered cherries.  She wrapped them and gave them to my uncle.  I don't know how he reacted or if he ever got over it, but I do know that he was loved and valued, that Christmas however meager was special to his family.  I wish my little family would be happy with receiving chocolate covered cherries. 
Christmas has become such a contest.  Trying to give your kids gifts that won't cause them embarrassment to tell their friends about.  Making sure that everyone has the same number of presents, or that you spent the same amount of each kid.  I tell my kids it doesn't matter what others think, but the truth is, parents care what others think.
I wish that just once, my kids would react with squeals of delight or tears of joy because I got them just what they wanted.  I wish that we could hide from the world for a day and drink hot chocolate and  eat breakfast casserole.  I wish that the phone wouldn't ring and that those picture perfect Hallmark moments occurred in my house.  I wish that Chocolate covered cherries were enough.